


it's the texture more than the taste

by thedreamygirl



Category: Life
Genre: Fruit, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-21
Updated: 2009-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-04 21:38:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/34388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedreamygirl/pseuds/thedreamygirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Four times Charlie was caught with fruit in his mouth, and one time he wasn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	it's the texture more than the taste

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sleepfighter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepfighter/gifts).



> No specific spoilers, but there are general ones for the whole show. The story goes from pre-series to post.  
> Thanks very much to Elsie for the beta, and Sophie for the support.
> 
> Happy Holidays to sleepfighter!

Charlie is on the living room floor when his mother enters, in the far corner behind the armchair.

"Charlie, are you over there?"

He freezes in place at the sound of her voice, followed by that of her footsteps, with the knowledge that he could get rid of the fruit in his mouth quickly enough, but not the pieces he was holding. He quickly swallows it down, but not quietly enough.

Charlie realises he's been caught at the same time his mother sees the apple slices she'd kept aside especially for his father in his hands.

He thinks he is going to be in trouble, but she merely laughs.

"I didn't know you liked fruit so much, Charlie," she says, and pats his head. (He doesn't, but they had looked nice.)

-

His fingers are sticky when Jen finds him sitting at his desk, chewing on an orange.

She quirks her brow as she says, "I thought I told you I was going to start on dinner."

Charlie nods as he wipes his hands on the sides of his jeans. "I just wanted to nibble on something. Do you need some help?"

"If you're not busy."

"I'll just put this stuff away and join you," he replies, already starting to organise his paperwork.

She smiles her answer, before she flutters out of the doorway.

He brushes the short, uneven strips of the orange rind onto his palm and tosses them into the bin. (Peeling a fruit is still an action, not a thought process.)

 

\---

 

Charlie's in the kitchen when Connie arrives through the unlocked door, leaning against the kitchen counter by the sink with a small pile of fruit in front of him.

Her eyes are questioning as she places her bag on the counter, but she waits for him to swallow. He picks up one of the small red fruits and holds it out to her. "Would you like to try one?"

She looks suspiciously at the offering. "What is that?"

"It's a lychee."

"It looks...prickly."

"You don't eat that part. You peel away the rough, prickly outer layer," he demonstrates the action on a piece of the fruit as he describes it, "to get to the perfectly smooth, white inside."

"That sounds like Zen."

"Zen for fruit." He ponders this; the before and the after. (The fruit skips the middle part.) He pops the peeled lychee into his mouth, and holds up another. "It's surprisingly sweet."

She shakes her head. "No. No, thank you."

"Did you know the lychee is supposed to be medicinal?"

"Really," Connie says in that way where it's not really a statement, but it's not a question either; but her voice is still pleasant so he can tell she's not grown tired of humouring him until he's ready to talk about the important stuff.

"Apparently it helps with coughs." (He's not ready just yet.)

-

Charlie's on the staircase when Ted comes back, thoughtfully sucking on a grape.

"Charlie, I-" he pauses, his face contorting as if he has been hit squarely in the nose. "What is that smell?"

"Fruit."

"Fruit?" Ted repeats.

"It's called durian."

"It smells like..." he struggles to find the best words to describe it, settling on, "something rotting."

"It has a very unique scent. Apparently, animals can detect it half a mile away."

"That's not surprising," Ted states, placing his hand over his nose and doing his best not to inhale too frequently. "The question though is why did you buy it?"

"The man at the Asian supermarket was very convincing. He said it's considered the king of fruits in South East Asia."

"The king of smells maybe," Ted grumbles. As he wonders if pulling the front of his shirt up over his nose would be more effective, he notices the pieces of fruit Charlie's rolling in his palms. "Charlie, those are grapes."

"I know. I had the durian about an hour ago."

They open all the windows and the doors, and stand outside the front while they wait for the smell to dissolve.

"Charlie."

"Yes, Ted?"

"Does it always have to be the weird fruits?"

"Not always." He chews on another grape.

"You know, tomato's an uncommon fruit."

"I disagree. I'd say it's a very common fruit, perhaps the most common fruit because of how much we use it. You can't really put apples and oranges in curries and things - or maybe you can, but you probably wouldn't. Tomato you would."

"But we don't really eat the tomato like other fruits, do we?"

Charlie makes a face at that, and "Mmmm"'s to himself. Then, he replies, "It's a bit soft though, isn't it? You can't really hold it and chew on it like you can other fruits." Ted doesn't reply, simply continues staring off into the distance. "Maybe I'll get strawberries next time," Charlie adds by way of apology.

Ted shakes his head and smiles. (They are past things like that.)

 

\---

 

His hands are in his pockets as he leans his hip against the glass when Dani finds him waiting for her.

"Isn't it your day off?"

"I've come to offer my congratulations."

Hers hang loosely by her sides. "You've already congratulated me on my promotion."

"I know, but this time I brought a present." She notices it before he gestures and nods, but without saying anything. He begins, "It's a -"

"Personal pineapple," she finishes, "Yeah," and smiles just a little. "What am I supposed to do with it?"

"Most people eat them."

He pulls out a knife - not a blade, the kind he once kept hidden in the folds of his clothes, even clothes as smart as these, but a proper chopping knife that he finds in the kitchen. (He will take it back after.)

They fall into their usual places, on opposite sides of the desk, with Dani leaning back in her chair as he hunches forward in his to cut up the pineapple.

He hands her a piece and she eats first, slowly taking in the sweetness of it.

"Is it good?" he asks.

Dani smiles. "Yeah, Crews. It's good."


End file.
